MONROE, Mich. Residents paying water bills, parking tickets, recreation program fees and other in-person payments to the city now must visit the Monroe County Community CU branch in city hall to do so, instead of the nearby clerk-treasurer’s office, as a result of an outsourcing contract with the credit union.
The city outsourced the payment processing functions through a $35,000 contract with the credit union earlier this month.
The city estimates it could save up to $15,000 per year with the change. Under the agreement, all customer payments received by the city, whether through the mail, in person or electronically, now are processed by the credit union, credited through the city computer network and funds deposited into the city’s Fifth Third Bank account.
The credit union office has set up city computers at its location for processing the payments.
Under the one-year contract, the credit union will get 50 cents for each payment it processes. The city estimates it will see 70,000 or fewer payments during the year.
The credit union leases space for its city hall branch from the city on a month-to-month basis.
